Is Facebook killing Society II? (not related to real estate but very much so to your Realtor)

My son's comment on my post about Facebook's threat to Society is worth reading. Of course, I'm not suggesting that Facebook is the sole threat. I'm suggesting that it's the entire electronic arsenal that is the threat. This morning's report that Apple and Microsoft are posting huge profits due to increased sales of exactly the kind of gadgets I'm addicted to is testimony to our reliance on them.

Paul Richard quickly found another unsettling article about our shared dependence on computers, the Internet, and gadgets (by the way, if you're not following his blog, take a look--it's worth reading).

What I see is that more and more of us are depending on the Internet for our news, and that concerns me. Back in the day, we had a pretty good idea of what our neighbors had read (whether what they had read The Truth is another issue). We could bring up a local or national topic and expect at least some some shared context. 

No more We and our co-workers and neighbors no longer go to a common source for our news and editorials. We forward forwarded emails and subscribe to whatever source du jour we happen to trust--whatever that mean. We don't even follow the same news programs on the telly. My "facts" are probably different from my next-door neighbor's. And we often cast our votes based on these "facts" and opinions.

The phenomenon was illustrated in this week's story about the firing of Shirley Sherrod after a blogger and Fox News "reported" a speech that "proved" that she was a racist. No time to check the facts--can't bother. Have to act now. 

My concern goes beyond the isolation we are embracing with our social networking, our embracing of video games, our willingness to listen to whatever the gecko tells us about the best insurance company (used to be a cave man, dinnit?). It has to do with how our new generation is computer literate but almost illiterate when it comes to our heritage, the thoughts and stories told by those who took the time to think and write about what it means to be human.  Their thoughts and stories are worth reading and worth giving to our children and grandchildren.

This is nothing new. I still remember years ago mentioning The Garden of Eden (as a metaphor for loss of innocence)  to one of my college students. No kidding: his reaction was, "Huh?"--not about the meaning of "metaphor" but about The Garden of Eden. Never heard of it, he cheerfully informed me.

I'll stop here and invite your comments. Do you see where I'm going with this, or have we all taken a bite from the Apple?

Related articles from Zempedi

• New iPad app makes it possible to flip through magazine assembled from social media outlets (taragana.com)
• Microsoft Reports 48% Increase In Profits (informationweek.com)
• Newsflash: Bill O'Reilly Apologizes to Shirley Sherrod (But With a Catch) (tvsquad.com)